I am sure some DCS owners will respond. Those that have them seem very pleased. I am quite sure grates are cast iron. One difference is BS is open burner and DCS is sealed, another is BS has black top and DCS has SS. DCS has easy slide racks, not sure about the BS. I believe both are good choices. Right now I am leaning toward the AG DCS 30 inch manual clean. On the bottom of a the main appliance page did you type in DCS range in the search box?

Been reading the board for ages, but first post. We did a lot a research on the board and elsewhere as we are just in the completion stages of our kitchen redo. We wanted a 36" all gas range. We were choosing between what was available here. Wolf, Jenn-air, Thermador, Electrolux and DCS for all gas. Loved the open burner Wolf, but this forum persuaded us to stay clear of the Wolf, Jenn-air and Thermador (do search at bottom of page on any, makes interesting reading for hours ;) ).

So, we started looking at the DCS. At first we dismissed it as it had what seemed like lighter grates than the others, the burners looked a bit generic sitting there in a sealed one piece pan and the top was stainless instead of black. All our own taste (or lack there of!) issues. We I did a bit more research on them I could find little in the way of bad reports about them (maybe I just missed them, but I really try to research the best I can). So, went back and looked again, purchased and have been using for about a month now.

Here are our findings and personnal taste conclusions. The stainless top has been a real boon for us. We've found we like it better as the range it replaced had the black porcelain type top under the burners. Not that we are not clean, but every little spec showed up on the black including dust and lint if you left it for a while unused. Was a bit of a pain really to keep clean as where the grates that had the same coating. The DCS all we've done is wipe with a moist sponge and dry it off to clean the grease spatters etc. The grates are not shiney, but rather a matte cast iron. Might be luck or the way they are designed, but we've found we tend to slop less on them. Probably luck. I've found also that in cleaning I really like the fact that I don't have to change into my workout gear to lift the grates for cleaning. They are substatial and designed for strength (we've had some really large pots/weight on them with no problem sliding around or anything), but not as heavy as on others we looked at that had full length ones.
Knob wise they work nice and have good adjustment range with a large scale to get a good gradient of burner level control. I've not paid attention to push in and turn as we have been automatically doing that as that is how our previous range worked. I just went out and double checked for you and they are a push in and turn type knob.
What else can I tell you about it.....the burners are sealed. Did not think I would like that, but as it happens, apart from look difference between sealed and the Wolf open type we were looking at I think I prefer the sealed now. Been easy to deal with when the pasta boiled over a bit. Don't know if it is an advantage or not, but the burners are quite a bit closer to the grates than others we looked at. With the size of the burners themselves we've found that, to stop the flame from going up the side of quite a few of our pans, we tend to end up with the flame adjusted in the medium low to low range. We have four burners that are the 17.5K and two at I think 12.5K. Just something to get used to as with our old range we had the burners up on high to med high for everything. The wideness of the caps bring the flame out more and even at that low level it puts out the heat so we've not had any issues with cooking anything. We've found that it just made us a rethink our old habit of settings from the old range and we don't notice any difference in cook time comparable to what we had. Cooks steaks, boils pots and recovers from dropping in cold items well. On the larger pans we have the medium to medium high on which is plenty!!! Have to get the wok out and play with that soon as the full on burner puts out! I've found it really nice that all the burners have a simmer setting. You have the high to low on all and then a bit further after low is simmer which is a seperate part of each burner. Has worked really well. Left quite a few sauces, onions etc. holding on simmer while I'm getting ready for them in another pot without burning them or drying them out. At least that is the way it has worked for me so far. Nice to not have to suffle stuff around to get to a simmer burner. Just turn it down and move on to the next. Each burner has the top part of the burner that is the main burner. Then below that is a different part that lights and runs when you put it on simmer. As with many ranges we looked at that had some sort of really low simmer feature, you can barely see the flame in the daytime or under bright light. That is why I'm glad that DCS put a little light in the marker for temp on each control knob. Can see at a glance if I left a burner on. At first not thrilled with the purple looking colour of this and the fact that it had the light feature at all compared to others we looked at, but now love it!
Oven rollers for the racks work fine. Racks have a channel that slides on two wheels that are on each side of the oven. Not as nice as the roller slides that the Electrolux had that we looked at, but we've found that with pans etc. on them they slide out nice and work really well. Husband says the rollers are like how some cabinet drawers slide out. Also pointed out to me, which I can see now we've used them and have them, that easier to clean probably than roller tracks like the electrolux had, if stuff, in the rare event it would, would get down in them.
So, overall a big thumbs up for the DCS from us so far. We are really heavy duty cooks so we've used the range daily since we've had it. Like it so far.
Do need to read a bit more on the convection to make sure of rack position and that I'm doing things right. Cooked three half sheets of shortbread in the oven, had two pans on one rack and another below it. Looked to me like the area back by the fan was browning faster than the other areas. Will have to check if it is positioning, a design flaw or a temperature setting issue as I put it on at the regular temp I cook it at. Also, need to thermom the oven so I can see where it actually is cooking temp wise. Do this in all we've had, but just not got to it with the other kitchen stuff we've been doing. Manual says it is factory set and not adjustable if I remember correct, but just want to make sure where it is. Seems like every range we've ever had has needed some adjustment.

Quite wordy for my first post ever. Guess I've been saving it up! At least, if you can get through my blatherings, I hope it helps with some info you needed and helps you make a decision. Can't provide any info on the Bluestar. Did not find a dealer here for them and only heard of them on this forum. Didn't want to deal with mail order. Our preference on that as read that some have had no issues. We wanted local so we could get for sure service if needed. Right or wrong, we also purchased an extended warranty on ours. Lot of cash for a range so wanted to make sure we were covered. Your choice on that.
Cheers

pggirl,

Thank you so much for your post it was just the kind of things I wanted to hear. Three years ago I did research on a 36" 5 burner cooktop and I swayed between Dacor, DCS and Miele and I went with the Dacor when they came out with the new 18,000 btu cooktop. I have been really pleased with the Dacor. Last year we did a reno in our mountain house and again researched cooktops--decided on a caldera and had it on order and it was taking forever and the dealer said they were not getting any response from them so I decided they probably would not give good service and ordered the Miele 36" cooktop. There are many things about the Miele I do not like one is the simmer does not go very low and I always have to use a simmer plate with is annoying and I am always switching pots around. Also I don't know if it is not adjusted the flame is dangerous, it flares up. Also don't like the fact that the opening on the grates are so large on the large burners that I can't use smaller pots without simmer plates. Both of these cooktops have the stainless steel top which I find is very easy to clean and also matte cast iron grates. Three years ago the big buzz was about the BlueStar but it was out of my price range for a cooktop. This go around the BlueStar and the DCS are less than the Dacor in a 30" range. Everything you told me about your DCS is exactly what I like--lights on knobs to tell when on, push in and turn which is safer and matte cast iron grates. A friend has a Thermador and I am forever leaning over to get some and turn on the burner which is very dangerous. There are a number of appliance stores who carry Fisher Paykel so I am hoping they will also have the DCS. I have read on a few post that people have complained that the exterior of the oven door gets very hot, have you found that to be true?

BlueStar now has easy slide oven racks and the 30" oven in the BlueStar is much larger than the DCS. Both are good product and either will serve you well.

I've had a DCS 30" all-gas self-cleaning range for 5 years and I'm very pleased with it. I concur with pggirl's comments. I'm especially pleased with the low simmer and the gas broiler. By the way, the convection oven is really good for roasting meats and poultry - it bakes multiple racks of cookies well but you do have to watch them because it isn't true convection like you'd get in an electric oven.

Hi, With the season and still working on finishing out the kitchen not online all the time.
No problem Charade, glad my long winded post helped.
On the oven door issue, I've not found that to be so on ours. Maybe they redesigned or something. With our oven I've actually sat down and watched it cook. Had the oven set to 375 and did not find the oven door to be hot. In fact remarked to my hubby that I was glad the door was not hot as our little poodle came by to see what the heck we were doing sitting on the floor in the kitchen looking through the oven door.
Ours is an AG six burner model. There is a curved lip type part that is above the oven door and below the surface burner control knobs. On a grill model I would assume this would be the pull out tray to clean up bits and grease that has fallen through, but not sure on that. Anyway, does not move on ours and is just a bit of trim. This lip does get warm. Not enough that it burnt me when I deliberately touched it, but it was warm. In use, not something that you would really touch unless you made the effort to touch it. Is under the knob area and the oven handle sticks out as does the top of the range lip so not something you would lean against or anything. If I had to guess I would say it is there to vent and deflect oven heat and help circulate air. Nothing to support this, but as I said, not been any issue for us at all.

Weissman, thanks for the comments on the convection. I'm going to have to learn how to use that part of it. Good to know on the meats too as I plan to do the rib roast for Christmas in it. Looking forward to that!

Cheers

Thanks everyone for your comments on the DCS and BlueStar. I ordered the 30" all gas DCS. There was not a dealer in this area for BlueStar and I had not seen one in person. There is a local dealer for DCS. This forum has been very helpful in helping me decide.

Congrats on your purchase! Hope you like yours as much as we do ours so far.

I put a post on DCS oven temp in answer to another thread that you might find interesting. Individual results may vary as they say, lol. Nut shell I tested this AM and found our 36" oven to be about 15 degrees low at 400 with us living at 5500 above sea level if that factors. Not a problem for us. If we even notice it in cooking then not an issue for me to bump the temp up 10 degrees or so. Would not be the first time I had to adjust a receipe after moving from basically sea level to here.

Happy Holidays!

Cheers